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| Saturday, July 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Sampras, Rafter in title clash Jelena Dokic let down by nerves Venus eyes first Grand Slam title |
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SA mourns loss of World Cup BRISTOL, July 7 — Zimbabwe, led by the dependable bat of Neil Johnson, finally saw the light against the West Indies here yesterday. Oceania football chief faces sack
BENASQUE (Spain), July 7 — The Indian contingent made an indifferent start at the Benasque Open Chess when all three participants had to settle for draws against their unseeded opponents. Indian
challenge in Asian squash ends Building muscles can cost you dearly Badminton squad
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Sampras, Rafter in title clash LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) — Pat Rafter produced a spectacular performance to beat second seed Andre Agassi in five gruelling sets today and set up a Wimbledon final against defending champion and top seed Pete Sampras. Rafter’s 7-5 4-6 7-5 4-6 6-3 triumph over the 1992 champion means he is the first Australian to reach the men’s final since Pat Cash won the title in 1987. Sampras beat Belarussian qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov 7-6 6-2 6-4 to give himself a shot at a record 13th Grand Slam crown and seventh Wimbledon title in eight years. He is currently tied with Australian Roy Emerson on 12 Grand Slams. “It’s going to be tough. Pat played really well today against Andre ... He’s one of the best serve-volleyers in the world,” said Sampras. Rafter’s surprise win left the 12th seed jubilant. “The final? That sounds pretty good right now, mate,” he grinned. “I hadn’t played a big-name guy in quite a while. I was probably the underdog — I felt that way — but I served really great. I felt really comfortable.” The five-set specialist produced a sublime display of all-court tennis to upset second seed Agassi and reach his first Wimbledon final. The Australian has now won 13 of the 16 five-setters he has played. Rafter, 27, varied his game beautifully to confound Agassi and avenge his straight sets defeat by the American in last year’s semifinal. “I came out and played some really great stuff on Andre’s serve,” he said. Agassi, the reigning Australian and U.S. Open champion, accepted it had been a stunning match but couldn’t hide his disappointment. “As far as I’m concerned the match sucked,” the 30-year-old said, half-joking. “I’m disappointed with the way I handled the situation.” The Australian played his best tennis since undergoing shoulder surgery last October and constantly pressured the Agassi serve. Both players played tennis of the highest quality throughout the match, summed up in two stunning points in the deciding set. First Agassi produced a sensational drive volley, backhand cross court. Rafter then responded with an improbable diving backhand volley reminiscent of Boris Becker in his prime. A game later the Australian achieved the decisive break of the match. Under pressure on serve, Agassi doublefaulted for 30-40 and netted a forehand to go 4-2 down. Rafter made no mistake in serving out to love to seal victory after three hours 18 minutes of captivating tennis. Sampras’s victory was, by contrast, an anti-climax. The top seed never really looked in danger and although Voltchkov stood his ground in the opening set he soon fell away. Sampras received treatment to the shin injury which has prevented him practising between matches in the second set but didn’t look to be in any discomfort. Venus on course for double glory Reuters: Venus Williams booked her place in a second Wimbledon final today and declared she and her younger Sister Serena were an unbeatable doubles combination. “It’s impossible to beat the two of us. It’s going to be just really difficult,” Venus said after the pair brushed aside fifth seeds Anna Kournikova and Natasha Zvereva 6-3 7-6 in the women’s doubles semifinals. The sisters sorted out any differences after yesterday’s singles semifinal, won against the odds by older sister Venus, and spent the evening watching a film together. Today the pair chatted to each other constantly on the court, but Serena was very low-key in the post-match news conference despite Venus claiming they were both “very excited” to have made the final. Venus and Serena — seeded eighth in the tournament despite not having a doubles ranking — will now meet Julie Halard-Decugis and AI Sugiyama who beat Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 3-6 7-5 6-2 in the other semifinal. |
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Jelena Dokic let down by nerves WIMBLEDON, July 7 (AP) — It was her first Grand Slam
semifinal, and Jelena Dokic admitted she was intimidated. “Maybe
there were a few nerves,” the 17-year-old Australian said after
losing to defending champion Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 6-2. “Looking
back at the match, that’s probably why I didn’t play as well. I
was thinking about the occasion and who I was playing, and it sort of
takes over a bit.” Last year, Dokic beat Martina Hingis in the first round and reached the quarterfinals. She struggled on the tour after that, but believes things will be different this time. “I’ve got a lot of confidence from this tournament, and my level of tennis has probably risen over the last couple of months”, she said. Dokic recently fired Australian great Tony Roche as her coach, preferring to keep things in the family. Her father Damir is the one who will guide her training and career. “I’m not looking for anybody (else) at the moment,” Dokic said. “I’ve worked with a few coaches before, but I think I know what I need to do, and so does my dad”. Davenport said she feels sorry for the extra baggage that Dokic has to carry because of the controversy surrounding her father “It’s totally a shame,” Davenport said. “Whether she plays tennis or not, it’s hard to have a parent that distracts from the overall good of what the child is achieving. It’s tough because I’m sure she’ll have to answer questions about him for a very long time.” Damir Dokic has had several brushes with authority. Last week, he was escorted from the grounds of the All England Club after shouting abuse and smashing a reporter’s mobile phone. A year ago, he was thrown out of the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, for drunken behavior. He responded by sitting in the road and stopping traffic, and was arrested. In Melbourne earlier this year, police visited him at his hotel during the Australian Open to recover a piece of camera equipment from a TV crew. “I know it took Mary (Pierce) a long time to get out of the shadow of her father,” added Davenport, referring to Jim Pierce, who was banned from the WTA Tour for abusive behaviour. “Jelena is very young, a good player, and it’s just sad when you get negative publicity for something that could be really good .” When it comes to tennis, Davenport considers that Dokic has a glittering future. |
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Venus eyes first Grand Slam title LONDON, July 7 (AFP) — Both of them stand over six feet tall, so challenger Venus Williams and title-holder Lindsay Davenport can go eye to eye as well as toe to toe in the women’s singles final here tomorrow. Height, talent and a place in the final isn’t, in fact, all the two have in common. Neither player’s relatives like to watch them add to the family silver, with Venus’ father crying off watching her semifinal win against younger sister
Serena and her mother watching on television back in the USA, while Davenport’s parents also remained in USA. Venus, the girl from the ghetto in Compton, Los Angeles, might hope to relax a little after winning her Centre Court pressure-cooker semifinal against Serena in straight sets. But she still yearns to measure up in the sibling stakes as her younger sister landed the US Open crown last year while Venus’ trophy cabinet still awaits that elusive first Grand Slam title. A week ago neither Venus nor Lindsay could have been confident about making it this far, as both players came into the event with the worst possible preparation following injury-ravaged clay court seasons. Davenport, the easy-going Californian, lost in the opening round of the French Open as she succumbed to a strain in her lower back which first afflicted her at the Rome Open in May. She gingerly came through the first week, aided by the second-set injury retirement of doubles partner Corina Morariu in the opening round. But by the time she ousted sixth seed Monica Seles in the quarterfinals and particularly Jelena Dokic in the semifinals, she was returning to her best. Venus, at 20 four years younger than her Californian rival, has seen her whole year blighted by tendinitis in both wrists which forced her to miss six months. Indeed, Wimbledon is only her fourth tournament of the year — so reaching the final — on the back of a quarterfinal at Roland Garros — is some achievement. “We’re both coming off the same boat, coming back from injury. She’s really picked up her court coverage — but I’ve been working very hard and it’s really paying off,” said Venus, who made the US Open final in 1997, the first woman to reach the final there in her debut season since Pam Shriver in 1978. Wimbledon is her first Grand Slam final since then. Davenport lifted the Australian Open in January to add to her Wimbledon triumph of 12 months ago and the US Open title the previous year, says after the trials and tribulations of her recent fitness problems the final will be payback time. “This
Wimbledon I’ve had to fight a lot harder, come back in a few situations, really hang in there. “In some ways this is much more satisfying because I got through the first week not playing well. I was determined not to let it go easily. On her chances of beating Venus, Davenport said returning her rival’s beefy serve on the fast grass would be the key. “I’ve played her a lot of times in the past. A lot of times I found the key was to find a way to get her serve back, and not let her get into a groove on her serve.” “You’ve got to hold your serve and look for your opportunities to break and not let her step inside the baseline. “I’ll have to be at my sharpest. I’m going to be the one trying to get the balls deep so she doesn’t have a lot of time,” added Davenport, who sent Steffi Graf into retirement here 12 months ago. Davenport’s experience of being there before should weigh heavily in her favour and her all-round game looks sufficiently well-oiled on the evidence of the past few days for her to pull off another win. |
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Wimbledon-2000 Faces said it all after the match I never expected the match to be what it turned out to be. I knew more than others that the match hyped up to a battle between the two hardest hitters of the game was certainly not going to live up to the expectations of all the experts and pundits of the game. And finally that is exactly that happened. Venus and Serena Williams played each other in the semifinal at Wimbledon becoming the first sisters to play here so late in the tournament since Lilian Watson beat Maud Watson in the first ever Wimbledon ladies final in 1884. Two reasons why the match could never be of the highest quality and they both would not be able to produce the kind of tennis that got them there. First, the most common one and that is, when expectations are high and two players hit the ball as hard as they do, there has to be more errors than good shots. The one match in recent memory to live up to expectations was the Sampras-Agassi semifinal at this year’s Australian Open where Agassi won in five sets. The second and more complex reason is the fact that they are family. How much ever they or anyone else said before the match that they would play each other like it was another match, it is just not mentally possible to do so. It is a failing that cannot be explained and perhaps the only place where the pain might be eased would be in a final. The faces of the two players said it all after the match as Venus put her arm around Serena who was in tears after serving a double fault to end the match. Rightly, their father Richard was not there. He left after the girls had warmed up with each other and will be back at Wimbledon to watch Venus play the final. The reason I feel that way! I do for the two sisters is because, it was the same feeling with my brother Anand, though on a lesser scale as we played each other in junior events in India and then the senior events. I remember clearly how tough it was then to go out and play a normal match. It was practically impossible. There were several theories as to whether they had decided before hand who would win or since Serena had won the US Open last year, it was now Venus’ turn to win a Grand Slam event. Or the fact that Serena had a better shot at beating Lindsay Davenport in the final than Venus did. All of this was totally baseless. The simple bottom line was the fact that it must have been the most difficult thing for a 18-year-old and a 20-year-old to do especially in front of 14,000 people and millions of other watching on television around the world. The second semifinal between Lindsay Davenport, the champion, and young Jelena Dokic of Australia went as expected. Playing Davenport totally from the back court was not the way for Dokic to win points and soon the unforced errors came and though the result was never in doubt, Dokic did well to repeat last year’s performance. The final should be a good match. The champion, Davenport, should have an edge, simply because she has won it and Venus, in her first Grand Slam final since 1997, does get nervous in tense situations. But then again she did take out Hingis, serving well when it mattered and holding firm under pressure. Richard Williams said after the semifinals that this is now Venus’s party and Davenport is not invited. But this is London in summer and parties are plenty and so are gatecrashers.
— PMG |
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SA mourns
loss of World Cup
DURBAN, July 7 (PTI) — The hopes of a whole nation were shattered by one announcement — football’s most coveted award goes back to Europe. The FIFA executive’s decision to grant the 2006 World Cup to Germany stunned thousands of South Africans who had gathered at street parties, ready to celebrate the announcement carried live on television and shown on giant screens at the rallies. South Africans are now angry that their country and Africa on the whole, have been let down by the international community. A clearly
disappointed President Thabo Mbeki, said the failure to win the World Cup bid was yet another demonstration that Africa should stand up for its rights. He, however, paid tribute to Danny Jordan and Irwin Khoza, the South African bid leaders, for doing a fantastic job of promoting the country to the outside world. The Mayor of Durban, Obed Mlaba, said the western world had demonstrated in no uncertain terms that colonialism still existed today. “The European countries have shown that they don’t care about Africa and its people,” he said. The defeat, by a narrow margin of one vote, has devastated the aspirations of entire country which rallied behind South Africa’s bid including ordinary masses, officials and the business community. |
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Zimbabwe shock Windies BRISTOL, July 7 (AFP) — Zimbabwe, led by the dependable bat of Neil Johnson, finally saw the light against the West Indies here yesterday. Beaten in the Trinidad Test they should have won back in March, and nowhere near winning any of their previous eight one-day matches against the West Indies, Andy Flower’s determined team finally got off the mark in the razzmatazz of Bristol’s historic day and night match. It was a fitting way to finish the first international to be played under floodlights in Britain and they won by six wickets with 30 balls to spare for their first triumph over the West Indies in any form of cricket. And it added some early spice to the triangular series, which also features England. Time eventually ran out for Johnson to follow the hundred he took off Australia in last year’s World Cup at Lord’s. The left-hander made a measured 95 not out from 128 deliveries, including nine fours, and was denied the chance of aiming for a six to reach three figures when the West Indies captain Jimmy Adams bowled a wide with his first ball to bring the formalities to a close. Man-of-the-match Johnson, normally a dashing performer at the head of the innings, knuckled down to play an anchor role and only began to become expansive once the game was in the bag. For Flower it was particularly satisfying result, having played in all Zimbabwe’s 139 internationals since they gained Test-playing status in 1992.
SCOREBOARD West Indies: Griffith c Brent b Nkala 10 Gayle run out 41 Hinds c Wishart b G. Flower 51 Lara c Johnson b G. Flower 60 Powell c G. Flower b Brent 36 Jacobs not out 16 Rose lbw b Brent 0 Mclean run out 2 Adams not out 2 Extras: (lb4, w7, nb3) 14 Total: (7 wkts, 50 overs) 232 Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-101, 3-135, 4-191, 5-222, 6-223, 7-225 Bowling: Strang 10-2-32-0, Nkala 8-2-40-1, Johnson 3-0-14-0, Brent 10-1-59-2, Viljoen 10-0-41-0, Whittall 3-0-15-0, G. Flower 6-0-27-2. Zimbabwe: Johnson not out 95 Wishart c Powell b Rose 7 Goodwin c Hinds b Rose 23 Campbell c Jacobs b Dillon 17 A. Flower c Gayle b King 42 G. Flower not out 26 Extras: (lb6, w8, nb9) 23 Total: (4 wkts, 45 overs) 233 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-57, 3-90, 4-160 Bowling: King 9-0-43-1, Rose 10-0-50-2, McLean 9-0-63-0, Dillon 9-0-35-1, Gayle 8-1-35-0, Adams 0-0-1-0. |
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Betty Cuthbert favourite to light Olympic flame From Andy O'Brien Betty Cuthbert, the golden girl of Australian
athletics, can no longer generate her high-step running style but the spirit of competition, which won her four Olympic gold medals, lives on. Cuthbert, who now lives a quite life in her home in Western Australia’s south-west, looms as a sentimental favourite to light the cauldron to signal the start of the 2000 games. Australia’s golden girl sprinter starred at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, where she won three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) and added a fourth gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo (in the first women’s Olympic 400-metre race). During the years 1956 to 63 she held 12 world records in races from 60 metre to 400 metres. Her Olympic medal tally might have been many more had a pulled hamstring not forced her to miss the 1960 Olympics in Rome. On Wednesday, an emotional Cuthbert, who has suffered from multiple sclerosis since 1969, helped light the Olympic Torch Relay cauldron at the tiny sea side town of Mandurah, south of Perth. But she hoped it was a practice run for one final Olympic call-up in Sydney. “It would really finish off my career completely,” the 74-year-old said. “It would be an honour to say I lit the 2000 Olympic flame because it would be forever remembered. Cuthbert said she was battling to contain her excitement during the countdown to the games, which will be held at Homebush just 2 km from her childhood home, where her mother still lives. “I don’t believe the games are going to be right there — it’s amazing,” she said. “The closer they are getting, the more excited I’m getting and sometimes I just look back and think, ‘Did I do all that?... I had a responsibility because from the time I was a little girl, I knew I had a God-given gift to run.” But look out for Betty Cuthbert when the Olympic flame does a final lap of the Homebush stadium during the opening ceremony. Hail taxis, beware the trains If you are visiting Sydney during the games and your budget will allow you the luxury of hailing a taxi in the Olympic city, then there’s good news for you. Another 450 taxi licences will be issued over the next few months as the government tries to solve taxi passenger frustrations. These frustrations are expected to reach fever pitch come the games. However, if your budgets will only allow use of trains to crisscross the city and its suburbs then there’s a bit of bad news for you, especially if you will be travelling at odd times. The $ 55 million security camera scheme designed to bring greater safety to railway stations is running at least six months late and won’t be ready in time for the Olympics. Embarrassed city rail officials conceded that only 1,800 of the 4,000 cameras had been installed on just 200 of the network’s 302 stations across the metropolitan area. None of the cameras is working properly because they have not been hooked up to the 17 control centres that are supposed to monitor security. The plan was supposed to have been up and running by the end of last month. Yes minister Where there is sport, can politics be far behind? Doesn’t seem so! The fictional Sir Humphrey Appleby (Of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister fame) once observed matter-of-factly that one should never believe anything from officialdom until it was formally denied. Michael Egan, the Treasurer of New south Wales (of which Sydney is the capital) is now formally denying that he misled Parliament in May when he delivered the budget with which “all of the Olympic and Paralympic costs are covered — every last cent. He had boasted: “The games are now paid for.” Those two lines from a 17-page speech are now at the core of a Parliament inquiry because a further $ 140 million was signed over to the SOCOG nearly a month after Mr Egan’s promise. At issue is who knew what about the games budget blowout and when. Mr Egan now says his words meant state finances were so healthy that taxpayers would not be left with a games burden beyond the budget he was delivering. “To interpret them as meaning there were no more bills to pay is clearly ludicrous,” he said on Wednesday. Now, even Sir Humphrey would have been proud of that one! Drug controversy not to affect games! As if the Sydney games have not had their share of controversy already! All that was required to put the icing on the cake was a drug scandal. That has come about too...and to make bad matters worse, from the host’s stable as well. An independent inquiry was to begin investigations into allegations by a confessed Olympic drug cheat that the host countries elite athletes and officials are guilty of doping and corruption. The Australian Olympic Committee President, Mr John Coates, announced the inquiry five hours after former Olympian and Commonwealth gold medal discus champion Werner Reiterer launched his book, Positive. Now it seems that inquiry is off because of the excuse that Reiterer has refused to name names. The Australian Sports Drug Agency denies Reiterer’s claims but concedes that sports officials can tip off an athlete about a drug test but insists it is accumulating intelligence to avert this. The agency also concedes that there is a difficulty in finding an athlete selected for a drug test is compounded when he or she is changing addresses while training and competing overseas. SOCOG’s anti-doping chief Nicki Vance has rejected any allegation of corruption within the Australian Drug Testing Agency, for which she was a tester from 1989 to 92. Ms Vance said no corruption came to her attention when she was at the agency, and that it would not occur at the games because of the checks and balances in place. Ms Vance, one of the most experienced anti-doping authorities in the country, said the testing for testosterone was not perfect because it worked on ratios with 1:1 being normal and anything above 6:1 being reported. She said testosterone would not be an issue at the Olympics because a new machine had been bought for the games, a carbon isotope ratio mass spectrometer, which detected the presence of artificial testosterone rather than relying on levels and ratios. But Ms Vance said it was unfortunate that there was still no test for human growth hormone and that there was not expected to be one in time for the games. —
PMG (The writer is a well-known sports journalist now settled in Australia.) |
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Cautious start by Indians BENASQUE (Spain), July 7 (UNI) — The Indian contingent made an indifferent start at the Benasque Open Chess when all three participants had to settle for draws against their unseeded opponents. IM R.B. Ramesh was held to a draw by Beltran Ortis (F) of Canary Islands. Ramesh faced the sicilian pelipan in response to his king pawn opening. He won a pawn early in the opening game but carelessly gave it back to get into a
slightly inferior position. The game then simplified to a four rook ending and Ramesh offered a draw on the 37th move which was accepted even though his opponent held an edge. Important results of round one (1) IM R.B. Ramesh (0.5) drew with Beltran Ortiz (0.5) Canary (2) IM V. Saravaran (0.5) drew with Martirez Zozo (0.5) Spain (3) Vedant Goswami (0.5) drew with Carlos Buil (0.5) Spain (4) Hinojar Basa (0) lost to Lev Psaknis (1) Israel. |
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Asian athletic meet postponed PATIALA, July 7 — The Amateur Athletic Federation of India [AAFI] has been put in a tight spot due to the sudden postponement of the 13th Asian Track and Field meet. The meet, which was to act as a dress rehearsal to gauge the preparation of Indian athletes for the forthcoming Sydney Olympics, will now be held from August 28 to 31 in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The meet was earlier scheduled to be held from August 3 to 6 at the same venue. The entire training programme for Indian athletes, vying for berths for the Jakarta meet and the Sydney
Olympics, chalked up meticulously with the help of sports scientists, sports medicine and general theory and methods of training [GTMT] experts, has gone haywire due to the latest unforseen development. According to latest reports, the AAFI has rescheduled its domestic calendar till the Olympics following the sudden postponement. Although the federation has changed the dates of various meets scheduled to be held before the Olympics even then the AAFI think-tank and senior coaches working on the Indian contingent will have to chalk out either new strategies or reformulate the ‘double periodisation’ factor — where the coaches ensure that top athletes peak twice in a year so that optimum level of performance is achieved in a scientific manner. Sources say as the Jakarta ATF meet has been delayed by a couple of weeks, things may get difficult for top athletes as the training has to be rescheduled. Chief coach of the Indian athletic contingent, Bahadur
Singh, was unavailable for comments. The Indian athletes passed through ‘double periodisation’ prior to the Bangkok Asiad. First the athletes were made to peak for the Fukuoka ATF meet where the Indians came up with a rich haul of medals. Indian athletes again came up with a good performance at Bangkok, which followed the Fukuoka meet. Even now the athletes were undergoing `double periodisation’ keeping in view the Jakarta meet and the Sydney Olympics. At present, all top Indian athletes, who are in contention for berths for the Jakarta meet and the Sydney Olympics, are participating in the inter-state meet at Bangalore, which is also a qualifying meet for the ATF meet and the Olympics. Although September 11 is the last date for finalising the Indian contingent for the Olympics, the postponement has ensured that the coaches will have to sit down and reformulate their strategy so that some of the top athletes may not have to face the dreaded ‘burn out’ factor before both the forthcoming meets. A top AAFI source confirmed that the decision to postpone the Jakarta meet was taken at an emergency executive council meeting of the Asian
Amateur Athletic Federation held at Pattaya [Thailand] on Wednesday. |
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Oceania football chief faces sack AUCKLAND, July 7 (AFP) — Oceania football chief Charlie Dempsey, the man who handed the 2006 World Cup to Germany, is to be hauled over the coals after it emerged that he had ignored orders to vote for South Africa. In rugby-mad New Zealand, where football is derisively known as ‘kiss n kick’, Mr Dempsey’s decision to abstain in yesterday’s crucial final vote at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich did not go down well. Sports Minister Trevor Mallard described the Dempsey, who is due back here tomorrow as an “international embarrassment.” Even Prime Minister Helen Clark stuck the boot in, saying she was upset by the result as she had promised New Zealand’s support for the South African bid. Mark Burgess, New Zealand’s representative on the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), said the Scots-born Mr Dempsey (78) had not followed instructions given to him at the confederation’s meeting in Samoa in May. New Zealand soccer chief executive Bill MacGowan was also adamant Mr Dempsey was told to vote for England first, then South Africa. Mr Dempsey faces a meeting of the OFC in Auckland on Sunday when he will be asked to explain why he did not switch his vote to South Africa after England was eliminated in the second round of voting at the Zurich headquarters of soccer’s governing body FIFA. “I can’t believe he has done this intentionally to shoot himself in the foot back here,” Mr Burgess said today. “The vote was a democratic one in Samoa, they still preferred England in the first vote, but on the second the vote was to go to South Africa. “There certainly was no discussion on his abstention, that never entered the thinking at all. “He’s going to have to explain himself and based on that, I’m pretty certain there will be some unhappy island people. “He was given the authority to go and cast a vote and he simply hasn’t done that, which will upset people.” Mr Macgowan said Mr Dempsey’s instructions could not have been clearer. “We, through our representative on Oceania, told him he had to vote England one, South Africa two,” Mr MacGowan said. “He’s taken everyone by surprise.” Mr Dempsey’s decision could see him sacked as early as Sunday from his position at the helm of the OFC, a position he has occupied for 34 years. Australian Chairman Basil Scarscella and Fiji’s Dr Samshud din Sahu Khan are the leading candidates to replace him. OFC General-Secretary Josephine King, Mr Dempsey’s daughter, said he “had his own reasons” for ignoring his instructions. By abstaining from the third round vote Mr Dempsey avoided a tied vote. Had that happened, FIFA President Sepp Blatter was expected to use his casting vote to ensure Africa hosted the tournament for the first time. Ms King said she knew why Mr Dempsey had made his decision but would not elaborate. “I’ll wait till he comes home to tell the story himself.” Mr Dempsey left Zurich, Switzerland, before Germany was named as hosts. He was due to be back in New Zealand tomorrow. South African bid officials were infuriated by Mr Dempsey’s actions. Bid Chairman Irvin Khoza said Mr Dempsey had “betrayed the South African people”. “I do not see how a man can vote in the first two rounds and then not vote in the third and final round. FIFA should investigate this,” he added. Mr Dempsey sought legal advice in New Zealand before releasing a statement saying he would not continue to vote after England were eliminated. FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper confirmed Mr Dempsey had warned the voting committee what he planned to do before voting started. “He said he would abstain in the final round for personal reasons,” Mr Cooper said. South Africa made an attempt to remove Mr Dempsey from the presidency of the OFC at a meeting in May. He has headed the federation since it was established in 1964. “(Dempsey) said he had been accused of bribery and corruption and would not vote again after England were out,” Botswana executive committee member Ismail Bhamjee said. Mr Dempsey was believed to have been one of two executive committee members contacted by former South Africa President Nelson Mandela in the final days of the campaign to ask for support. |
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Indian
challenge in Asian squash ends MUMBAI, July 7 (PTI) — The Indian challenge ended with Ritwik Bhattacharya’s ouster by Malaysia’s Ong Beng Hee 8-10, 4-9, 1-9 in the men’s third round of the 10th Asian Senior Squash Championship at Hong Kong yesterday. According to information received here today, Delhi based Ritwik played a superb first game against the experienced Malaysian before losing in 37 minutes. Another Indian and national champion Manish Chotrani also went down fighting to sixth seeded Zubir Jahan Khan of Pakistan 1-9, 8-10, 2-9 while second-seeded Kenneth Low of Malaysia needed just 13 minutes to pack off last Indian hope Dhiraj Singh 9-6, 9-3, 9-0 in other third round matches. In the women’s section, national champion Mekhala Subedar gave a good account of herself before bowing out to second seeded Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong 8-10, 3-9, 3-9 in 38 minutes. |
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Building muscles can cost you dearly PATIALA, July 7 — Misinformed zeal can sometimes prove to be counter-productive and even be an
excruciating experience in how the spirit may be willing yet the body may well be weak. This is precisely what is happening to hundreds of fitness freaks who register themselves with the scores of gyms and fitness centres of the city, but, unfortunately, barely after a few days after trying to melt down that extra flab or trying to build up biceps to superhuman levels, they fall victim to the ‘fitness misinformation boom’ and drop out suffering from various ailments, including sprains, muscle spasms, swollen joints, premature arthritis, chest pain and even in some cases broken limbs. The gym culture is spreading like wildfire in this sports-conscious city. Yet the problem is only a fraction of these fitness freaks know the right way to go about the task of taking off all those extra kilos. Dr Manmohan Singh, a renowned cardiologist and a member of the Medical Commission of the Olympic Council of Asia [OCA], opined that there should be qualified physical trainers in all these fitness centres. Sadly, none of the gyms have a qualified trainer to give a proper exercise programme catering to the needs of different individuals. Unlike gyms in metropolitan
cities, even the basic facility of a doctor on call in case of any mishappening is absent. A gym owner, preferring anonymity, revealed that most of the injuries occur due to ‘ego-training’, which means competing with a friend. He cites the case of a young obese girl, who without warming up did 120 sit-ups on her first day at the gym, just because her friend had also done them the previous day. After going through her first day routine, she started coughing up blood, complained of chest pain and had to be hospitalised. Dr Manmohan Singh attributes such incidents to ‘getting slim the fast way’. He added that without a proper regime and due to lack of knowledge, these fitness freaks do not fine tune their bodies before stepping into the gym. “Jogging, skipping and doing light weights is the proper method to reduce flab, but people seldom do these exercises and straight away start lifting heavy weights in order to loose weight in double quick time”, added Dr Manmohan Singh. Dr Rajiv Aggarwal, an orthopaedician, opined “Gyms are just business
propositions. Any body who has money and space in a centralised area of the city jumps on the gym bandwagon, but there is nobody to teach people how to exercise in a professional manner”. He is of the view that exercise should be gradual and an overdose proves harmful. But it seems neither the gym owners nor the fitness freaks are listening. A top orthopaedician said that most of the gym owners are unaware that overexercising unprepared muscles by stretching is an invitation to disaster. He adds that most of the owners do not suggest drinking
water, which is wrong as de-hydrated muscles protest with spasms. A gym owner admitted that all gyms and other fitness centres in the city do not have qualified trainers thereby compounding the problem for those who want to lose weight quickly. Even as dozens of gyms are sprouting in the city with each passing day, there is a lurking fear among the owners, what with people dropping out just days after getting registered, that these gyms may soon become a thing of the past. Moreover till these fitness freaks ignore the three basics — warming up, stretching and cooling down — before they step into the cool confines of a fitness centre — drop out cases will keep on multiplying. |
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Badminton squad JALANDHAR, July 7 — For participation in the Inter-District Badminton Championships being held from July 8 to 23, the following teams have been selected by the Jalandhar Badminton Association, according to the secretary of the association. Men’s team: Rohan Kapoor, Jaideep Kohli, Opinder Pal Singh, Neeraj Bansal, Ram Lakhan, Karandeep Kohli, Ranjit Singh; Women’s team: Sapna, Sumit Kalra, Sheel Bhagat, Sandhya Yadav; Junior boys’ team: Ramnik Singh, Rohit Kapoor Sahil Arora, Harjot Singh; Junior girls team: Navneet Kaur, Madhuri Yadav, Indermeet Kaur and Heena Kapoor. |
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